Leading Badge Platforms are Creating the Open Badges Ecosystem Needed for Better Digital Learning Credentials

LAKE MARY, Florida, 27 February 2018 — IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS Global/IMS), the world-leading non-profit collaborative advancing edtech interoperability, innovation, and learning impact announced today the first wave of products that have achieved IMS certification for the new Open Badges 2.0 standard.

IMS certification for Open Badges 2.0 greatly surpasses the previous badge verification process by requiring capabilities that ensure learner-control of credentials, demonstrate rigor of achievement, and guarantee that learners are able to display their badges on and share their badges from any IMS certified platform.

Technology suppliers that support Open Badges worldwide are applying for IMS certification for one or more Open Badges 2.0 services. IMS members Acclaim, Chalk & Wire, Concentric Sky, Credly, Digitalme, iQualify, and Learning Objects—signaling their commitment to the Open Badges standard and developing ecosystem—are among the first to achieve IMS conformance certification.

"Open Badges v2.0 provides a robust construct that can serve as the digital currency for achievements providing value to earners, educational institutions, and employers," said Dr. Rob Abel, chief executive officer, IMS Global Learning Consortium. "IMS certification provides the trust mechanism for the ecosystem to grow through myriad connections among cooperating products and institutions while avoiding credential silos for issuers and learners."

All products that have achieved IMS certification for Open Badges 2.0 are listed in the IMS Certified Product Directory at imscert.org.

Supporting Statements from Open Badges Platform Providers

“Digital credentials are rapidly becoming more recognizable, actionable and valuable to the entire labor market, thanks in large part to the Open Badges specification. As an early advocate for verified, learner-controlled credentials, Acclaim is pleased to support future growth and accessibility to digital credentials by becoming Open Badges 2.0 certified.

—Jarin Schmidt, Co-founder, Acclaim

“The MyMantl team is thrilled to be part of an amazing ecosystem of innovators trying to shape credentialing for the 21st century. The Open Badges 2.0 standard empowers all of our users to better recognize learning and achievement with rich data wholly owned and controlled by the earner. Skills as digital currency is truly here.”

—Justin Pitcher, Director of Product Development, Chalk & Wire

"Certification is a vital part of building an interoperable open standards ecosystem. Concentric Sky is excited to partner with IMS Global to help develop open standards and to establish a legacy of open technology tools upon which future innovations can be built."

—Wayne Skipper, Founder and CEO, Concentric Sky

"Organizations are rapidly embracing a culture of recognition and using digital credentials to officially acknowledge achievements and skills. Credentials that are portable, verifiable and data-rich provide significant benefits to all stakeholders—and all of these advantages are best realized with the help of open standards. Credly is pleased to be working closely with IMS Global to continue to help develop and implement the standards that bring competency-based recognition to scale."

—Jonathan Finkelstein, CEO, Credly

“Version 2.0 of the Open Badges standard takes us one step closer towards creating global skills currency. It ensures individuals have ownership and control of their learning data and builds increased trust by adding third-party endorsement to learners achievements. We believe this is the way forward for communicating skills in the digital age, and we are delighted that so many IMS Global members are planning to implement the standard.”

—Tim Riches, Executive Director, Digitalme

“The Open Badges 2.0 standard represents incredible gains for learners who are after endorsable and fully portable credentials. IMS certification has been a critical step for us in demonstrating our commitment to enabling a learner-led experience that provides meaningful outcomes with recognisable achievement.”

—Shanan Holm, General Manager, iQualify

"We are proud to be part of the talented community who have contributed to this important evolution in open badges and digital credentials standards. Providing structure within badges for endorsements, evidence, and competency alignments empowers learners to better communicate the value of their achievements and unlock opportunities."

—Deborah Everhart, Vice President of Design & Innovation, Learning Objects, a Cengage company

About IMS Global Learning Consortium

IMS Global is a nonprofit organization that advances technology to affordably scale and improve educational participation and attainment. IMS Global members are leading suppliers, institutions, and government organizations that are enabling the future of education by collaborating on interoperability and adoption initiatives. IMS Global sponsors the Learning Impact Leadership Institute, a global program focused on recognizing the impact of innovative technology on educational access, affordability, and quality while developing the people and ideas to help shape the future of educational technology.